Sausages suspended from a smoke stick are subjected to heat treatment in a smoke house. To improve the productivity of heat treatment, it is necessary to use a longer smoke stick and suspend longer and a greater number of sausage loops from the smoke stick. Conventionally, sausage suspending apparatuses having wider hook intervals than the diameter of the sausage have been used. However, to enhance the productivity of heat treatment, there has been a demand for suspending longer and a greater number of sausage loops from the stick by using a sausage suspending apparatus having hook intervals close to the diameter of the sausage or hook intervals narrower than the diameter of the sausage.
As the above-described conventional apparatus, it is possible to cite the apparatus disclosed in FIGS. 3 to 4-3 of JP-A-2003-158991. A stick reciprocally transferring means driving means 17 disposed at a position downwardly distant from hooks 4 reciprocatingly moves a stick reciprocally transferring means 16 between a lowered end position (5) and a raised end position (6). If longer sausage loops are suspended from the stick in this conventional apparatus, a case can occur in which the distance between the raised end position (6) and the hook 4 is shorter than the length of the sausage loop, in which case there can occur a case in which the loop cannot be removed from the hook 4.
In another conventional apparatus disclosed in FIGS. 10 and 11 of JP-A-2006-197935, a stick reciprocally transferring means driving means 58 disposed at a position upwardly distant from hooks 4 is disclosed. The stick reciprocally transferring means driving means 58 reciprocatingly moves a stick reciprocally transferring means 56 between a lowered end position VII and a raised end position VIII. In this conventional apparatus as well, if an attempt is made to suspend longer sausage loops from the stick, a case can occur in which the distance to the raised end position VII is shorter than the length of the sausage loop, and there can occur a case in which the loop cannot be removed from the hook 4.
A primary object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for transferring a stick for suspending loops of sausages, which make it possible to reliably remove from hooks a multiplicity of long sausage loops suspended at narrow pitches by the raising of the stick, and which yield high productivity.
A secondary object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for transferring a stick for suspending loops of sausages, which make it possible to reliably remove from hooks long sausage loops having slender and long sausage links by the raising of the stick, and which yield high productivity.